The equity raise process for Prime Data Centers has been delayed due to prolonged ongoing lease negotiations, said sources familiar with the situation.

A formal process was expected to launch in Q1.

The Dallas-headquartered developer is working with Guggenheim Securities and Moelis on the equity raise.

Executives have also recently begun working on a debt raise for their in-market projects.

All told, Prime is seeking to raise nearly USD 2bn, one of the sources said.

It’s unclear when the equity raise process will launch.

The company recently executed a separate equity deal.

In March, the European Commission approved a joint acquisition of Prime by Ares Management Corporation, Macquarie Group Limited and data firm Aunalytics.

Previously, aside from Macquarie Capital and Ares, Siemens Financials Services was also known to be a shareholder in the company.

The company has European facilities in Madrid and Denmark, according to its website. Not long ago, Prime also listed Frankfurt, Germany, as another site under development. However, the company removed it from the website, trade news publication Data Centre Dynamics reported in February.

MacCap formed a strategic partnership and invested in the company in 2021, intending to invest another USD 5bn over the next 10 years.

In addition to its locations in Europe, Prime has another eight sites in the US that are either operational or under construction.

The capital raise process proposal comes at a time when several notable hyperscalers have been reallocating their computing capacity resources while the broader global economy is facing serious headwinds.

In times of economic turbulence, hyperscalers strive to secure favorable terms from their global partners, with whom they collaborate on numerous projects worldwide. This might not be easy to do with less-scaled, newer developers like Prime, another one of the sources said.

Macquarie, Moelis and Guggenheim declined to comment. Ares, Siemens, Aunalytics and Prime did not respond to requests for comment.